L is for Life
by BurnLobelia
Summary: What if Death Note was real? What if L ended up in our world instead of dying? What will happen when he meets an anime obsessed girl and her best friend? Will he ever get back to defeat Kira?
1. Prologue

L was watching the screen when it died and they began to flash red beeping loudly.

"What? A power outage?" gasped Matsuda. A cold feeling grew inside of L as he glared at the screen. A horrible suspicion began fill him.

"Watari," he said, almost as if a question.

_All data deletion, _flashed the screen.

"Watari!" cried L. Not him...

"Data deletion? What's happening?" asked one of the team members. L glared at the screen, a deep anger coursing through him, filling his entire person.

"I told Watari that if something should happen to him, he should make sure not to leave any data behind," L told them grimly.

"Something?"

"It can't be!"

"Where's the shinigami?" asked L. He _knew_ what this meant.

"Now that you mention it, he's... Not here! That means!"

"Everyone, this shiniga-" L was abruptly cut of as a liquid hot pain shot up his arm into his chest, burning his very heart to ashes. He absently noticed the spoon he was holding slip from his hand, before he followed it, crashing to the ground. Light was by him in an instant, holding him as if he wanted to help a friend. But L knew better. His suspicions were confirmed 100%. Light Yagami is Kira.

A smirk befitting that of an evil, poisoned mad man grew on Light's face as he watched L slowly die, the pain almost blinding. He could hear nothing but the beating of his own heart, slowly stopping. He could see nothing but the triumph on Lights face.

But he remembered the sunlight. He remembered the Wammy House where he was raised. He remembered the taste of a strawberry cheesecake. He remembered the feel of bringing the worst criminals to justice. He remembered happiness.

Then he forgot his pain. Forgot the smirk on Light's face. Forgot everything but the memories he cherished. Then forgot those too as he slowly slipped into the darkness, forever lost to that world.


	2. Lies?

I watched the various buildings shoot past the window, blurring into a sea of grey. One bad thing about trains were you never were able to enjoy the scenery properly, especially in the city. The fact they were so public and open wasn't really my favourite thing at the moment either. The stares I was receiving were unwanted and rather unpleasant in some cases. However, I couldn't really blame them. If I was half way normal like the rest of those people, I would stare at me too. My hair was blonde and covering my eyes completely with the fringe. I wore a black leather jacket, striped purple and black t-shirt and black trousers. Not to mention these gorgeous white boots with ribbon tying up the front... oh, and the real curved metal throwing knives and silver tiara. Yes, I looked quite strange to the average person, and probably even a little scary. But they didn't understand. They were not anime fans like I was. If they were they would know that today was the final day of London's MCM anime expo and I was cosplaying, though technically crossplaying, as Prince the Ripper, Belphegor from Katekyo Hitman Reborn, the person I someday hoped to be kidnapped by and married to... not that there was any chance of that ever happening, unfortunately. Gosh I was immature for a nineteen year old...

If course for now I guess I would just be visiting the yearly expo's and glomping everyone else dressed as my other favourite characters (any of whom I am also very willing to marry). I am such a nerd. But a very happy nerd in my wonderful unrealistic world where every hot anime guy I love, also happens to love me. What a ridiculous, yet wonderfully satisfying world that was. And if they didn't exist, which I am not saying they do not somewhere, then I always had the other wonderful otaku's who went to these heavenly expo's every year, dressed in the most unbelievable coslplays, and always very open to photography and hugs, many of which I served out. I was truly a fan-girl to the core.

Lost in my thoughts I very nearly missed my stop and had to dash for the doors as they were shutting, thankfully being stopped by someone who exited with me. I half jogged to the DLR train, in my excitement at very nearly almost being at the expo. I heard scuffling behind me, and that's when I noticed someone behind me. I stopped and turned to him, wide-eyed. Not that he could probably see them through my thick wig. He also stopped and tilted his head at me.

"That," I began, "Has to be the most _amazing _L cosplay I have _ever_ seen," I nearly cried. Nearly. The cosplayer just stared at me wider-eyed and more concerned than he had been before. I smiled at him, though that probably looked really creepy without being able to see my eyes.

"You're a girl," said the L cosplayer simply. Damn, even his voice sounded exactly how I had first imagined it would. The posture was 100% correct and the hair styling the best and most hard-worked (in a totally casual way) I'd ever seen. Could I just marry him now?

"Duh, I didn't think my cosplay was that good," I laughed. Actually I thought it was bloody damn good. I had spent months trying to get it right, working with a tiny budget but internet shopping skills of a pro.

"What's a cosplay?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow at him, before remembering he couldn't see it... A Bel cosplay wasn't very good for displaying emotions other than perhaps happiness... and insanity.

"You're good. Are you going to the expo?" I asked. After a moment he nodded as if unsure if he really was. I put on my most non-menacing smile.

"Okay, I'll stick with you then... if that's OK?" He nodded again and began to catch up to me as I headed off to the DLR station. I hopped onto the little train thing and he followed me, gripping a pole for dear life as soon as the train began to move.

"My name's Sephy by the way... or Bel if you want to go by my character," I informed him cheerfully.

"My name is Ryuzaki," he said simply. I wished he could see my raised eyebrow.

"Right... okay, you don't have to tell me your real name if you don't want to..." I told him. His wide panda eyes narrowed at me and I noticed that he wasn't actually wearing any make-up for that effect. He obviously just hadn't slept for this. I wish I could be that dedicated but I loved my sleep far too much.

"Who are you?" he asked sharply. I was once again wishing for the ability for my eyebrows to be seen, but no way was I taking this wig off until I had a mirror to put it back on again. It would spoil my entrance, however unnoticed it may be.

"I just told you... My name is Sephy... Oh! I get it. Your L, you must behave as he would. I must say I think you are just amazing. Not even any shoes on the train..." I observed, looking him up and down.

"I have an animosity to footwear," he said dryly, looking out the train window.

"Oh my god I think I love you," I laughed. He turned back to me, eyes wide once again, startled out of his poor little mind.

"Excuse me?" he chocked.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. Sorry," I laughed. His eyes slowly narrowed into a small glare.

"There is a 4% chance that you are the second Kira. Now that it is proven that Light Yagami is Kira, I will proceed to take down the rest of you," he notified me in a very L-like way.

"Okay then... Except I'm Prince the Ripper, not Kira. Different anime, much more deadly, less of a coward, but perhaps less effective."

"You're saying you've killed?" he snapped, eyes scanning me warily, probably taking in the throwing knives in a much more serious way now.

"Not myself personally... my character... hey, are you sure you're just cosplaying. If I didn't know any better I would say you are Lawliet him-" I was cut off abruptly as his hand slammed over my mouth and he pushed me back into the seat. His eyes scanned the carriage, but it was empty. He swept my long fringe aside so that he could glare straight at me.

"How did you know my real name?" he demanded.

"Mmph hum mmurrh hmm," I mumbled beneath his hand. He released me, but stayed very close, still glaring.

"Just about everyone who has seen the anime, read the manga or even googled Deathnote knows your name..." I repeated.

"Who published these 'mangas'?" he asked, emphasising his distaste on the word 'manga'.

The writers of it... wait, why am I telling you this? You obviously know!" I smirked at him. "Oh you are _good_. You had me fooled, nice one." I laughed.

"Listen here," he said sternly, wiping the grin right off my face, "I don't know how you know who I am but I swear I will find out who you really are, how I got here and how to get back."

Something inside me seemed to begin to question itself. Was this really a cosplayer? It was so... unusual.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" I asked, voice low and cautious. He looked at me sharply and then backed away again to his pole thing.

"I need to get back to Japan and have Kira arrested. I don't know how I got here or why I'm even still alive, but I know I have to find a way back." I watched him as he began to think things through, slowly bending down with his knees still up, stroking his top lip with his thumb, in typical L gestures so many people were unable to achieve.

_Maybe he's the real thing?_

No. No way. That wasn't possible. L was just a fictional character. Someone had thought him up one day and made the most amazing manga ever written. It wasn't possible for him to be real. So why was my heart telling me otherwise?

"A-are you... the _real_ L?" I asked slowly. He looked up at me and seemed to asses something for a moment before answering.

"I am 87% sure I can't trust you... However it seems you already know too much. Yes, I am the real L," he said confidently.

"H-how is that even possible?" I asked. Better question yet, why did I believe him?

"I am not entirely sure yet. I think it has something to do with the Death Note. I am supposed to be dead, and yet I appear to be here instead." He looked down at the floor, thumb pressed to his upper lip. The DLR slid to a stop and I realised we'd already missed our stop once and this was the second loop around. I jumped up and grabbed L by the arm to drag him off the train. He followed obediently as I began to lead him up the stairs towards the centre where the expo was being held.

"I think I know someone who can help us figure this out," I told him, wishing I could flick my dishevelled fringe back into submission. "And he will be here."


	3. Limn

I kept hold of L's arm as I dragged him through the huge crowd of people dressed up in their hundreds. After queuing to get in for about an hour (which was a silent, very awkward time) we were finally in the expo. Now was just the almost impossible task of tracking down my friend. Fortunately, I knew exactly where he would be, as any best friend should. L was looking around, bewildered by all of the strange people in their costumes. If he was telling the truth and he was the real L, he must feel totally out of his depth. Fancy that, the mighty L not being able to handle a few cosplayers. Ha!

I caught sight of my friend, arguing with a woman at a stall. Marching through the crowd, I called out his name to try and get his attention. He turned and smiled at me, about to make his way over. A sharp force tugged at my arm and pushed me face first into a wall, pinning me in place.

"I _knew_ you were with Kira. This was all just a set up!" L hissed in my ear. I tried to turn but a sharp pain shot up my arm. This was certainly a different L than from the anime. Then again, he did literally kick Light's *ss, which I must say was one of my favourite parts of the anime. Ninja in disguise much. God, I thought of stupid things, even when pinned to a wall. Heh.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you are doing?" called the voice of my friend-soon-to-be-savoir. L was pulled away from me and I turned as he was thrown to the ground.

"Wait, Simon, stop stop stop!" I cried, leaping on my best friend, before he, Simon, could start pounding L into the ground. What can I say, he was very protective. L watched me with narrowed eyes as I moved next to Simon. Then I got a look at what he was wearing. What a day for him to decide to wear a Light Yagami cosplay. No wonder L tried to take me down, he thought I was working with the enemy.

"Okay, Simon, I have much to explain, so please stay calm. L, you stay calm too, as I said, there is a whole lot to explain," I told them both, giving each a stern look before extending my hand to help L up. He took it, to my surprise, and I pulled him to his feet.

They both followed me outside, where it was a little quieter (and I mean only a minute amount), before sitting them down on the grass. Simon glared at me, not with malice, but confusion and curiosity. L just sat in his usual weird way, thinking.

"L, first of all I would like to explain that Simon is not the real Light, as you may have figured out by now."

"Yes, he does not have the same build or facial features like that of Light Yagami," L said wisely.

"Hey! I've been told I make an excellent Light cosplayer," protested Simon, glaring at L, who ignored him completely.

"Simon, I want you to meet the one and only, genius of the deathnote world, L!" I said with a flourish, trying to lighten to mood of the two boys, failing miserably. All it achieved was an incredulous look from Simon and a pink flush on the cheeks of L which was either anger or embarrassment. My inner fangirl hoped it was the latter.

"You have got to be kidding me right? Some guy attacks you, but because he's dressed as your _beloved_ L, he _must_ be the real thing and not just some perverted creep. Of course," Simon protested sarcastically. I didn't think he eyebrow could get any higher or my face any redder.

"He is _not_ my 'beloved L' you moron! He was just the best character in the whole of the story! Hell, he could be the best anime character ever!" I snapped, avoiding his main point completely.

"Oh come on! Light was way better, he was the one who won in the end! He was far superior to L!" cried Simon.

"No way! Light was a complete power crazy nut job! He only won by cheating with those stupid shinigami! He didn't use his own methods at all. For me to admit he is superior he would have had to have found out L's name fair and square!" I argued.

"He was clever enough to think of it though! Using the shinigami to kill L was genius and totally fair! You have to use your resources! Light is a genius, and L is an inferior anime character," he concluded.

"I am just an _anime character_ here?" Cried L, who had gone very very pale... well, paler than he usually was. Simon looked at him with distaste, obviously only just remembering he was even there.

"You're kidding me right? If you are L you would have figured that out by now," scoffed Simon in disbelief. I rolled my eyes at him.

"How could you expect me to come to such a ridiculous conclusion?" asked L.

"It's the truth," I said softly. "I can prove it, I'm sure I have the manga in here somewhere," I told him, rummaging through my bag.

"That won't be necessary. I... I think you are telling the truth," L reassured me uncertainly, half smiling.

"Right, whatever mate," muttered Simon.

"Listen Simon... I think I believe him," I said earnestly. Simon looked me directly in the eye, and I held his gaze, begging him to trust me. He finally sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Only because I owe you Sephy. This doesn't mean I believe you! I am just going to play along with you... mad woman," he mumbled. I squeaked in delight and threw myself to hug him. L watched us curiously, seemingly calculating something.

"There is a 98% chance that you are a couple?" he said very innocently. I abruptly pulled myself away from Simon and stared stupefied. Simon looked equally shocked.

"I think that just reduced to 80%" L said calmly.

"I think that should be much much lower. Seriously dude, I have my own girlfriend! Am I not allowed female friends?" Simon said angrily. It wasn't as if it was the first time someone had made that mistake. People were often saying that, because we were such close friends. But to be honest, we felt more like siblings to each other and anything else would just be... _wrong_.

"Yep! No relationship of the romantic sort ever going to happen here!" I confirmed. This, strangely enough, made L smile. Who knew why.

"Speaking of things never going to happen, I never would have imagined L saying that. Ever. There's no _way _ you are being honest here. What would possess the real L ever to say something like that. Or even trust people how you seem to be trusting us?" demanded Simon. He had a point. This L was quite out of character at points.

"Death will do that to you," L replied grimly.

"Woah... what?" I asked, eyes, once again, bugging out of my head. I was glad I hadn't bothered to fix my fringe yet, it made facial expression a lot easier.

"Death tends to... alter you slightly."

"Please do explain to the completely clueless people exactly what you are saying," tittered Simon nervously. I shot a glare at him.

"The last thing I remember before waking up here was dying... first Watari... then me. It was the shinigami. I have deduced that Light somehow put the shinigami in to some kind of situation to make him write our names down, though I am not entirely sure what that situation was."

"Oh I know," said Simon and I in unision. L looked up at us, wide eyes curious and determined to discover the truth.

"He told the shinigami of the threat to Misa-Misa. The shinigami was in love with her... so he killed you to save her," I said gently.

"...and Watari," added L, a sadness so immense in his eyes I thought he might collapse underneath the weight of it.

"But you ended up here... even though you are supposed to be dead," Simon analysed, "so could that not mean that Watari is here too? That instead of death the Death Note somehow sends you to this world, our world? Like a portal connecting his world and our world?" I watched Simon as he twirled a strand of hair around his finger staring at the ground, just as Near might.

"Where did that come from?" I asked nervously. Simon looked up, seeming to snap out of his thoughts.

"Heh... I don't really know... perhaps I have been watching too much anime," he grinned.

"Well continue to do so, that was an impressive conjecture. It may even be correct. Anything could be a possibility now," said L, now impressed and going in to deep thought.

I felt like a fish amongst rocket scientists... or just a dumb person amongst clever people... apparently one with a weird imagination.

Both Simon and L looked deep in thought. I ran a look over Simon, who seemed as intrigued and captivated in the situation as he had been when watching Kuroshitsuji for the first time. L looked exactly as he should, deep in intelligent thought. The only thing missing was something sweet.

"I know! Lets go buy cake!" I suggested!

Nobody protested.


	4. Looking

**Looking**

I was extremely tempted to steal the strawberry right off the top of L's cake, just to see how he would react... well, not _just_ because of that... I wanted the strawberry too. It was just crying to be eaten, but he was saving it until last. I stuffed a piece of my chocolate cake into my mouth to keep myself under control. At this point it was either steal the strawberry or kiss that deliciously sweet mouth of L's as he almost seductively stuffed cake in it... that didn't sound right, but with L it was _oh so right_. He was about a million times sexier in real life than as a 2-dimensional character on a screen. Now, sitting down whilst he was caught up in thoughts of cake and different worlds, I was able to finally appreciate that sexiness. You wouldn't have thought someone so scruffy and unkempt could be sexy, but then there was L to destroy all of the thought of that. Suddenly I noticed I was gazing dreamily into a pair of dark grey eyes. Crap, he'd noticed me staring. I put my head down to stare at my cake so that my long golden hair, now out of it's wig, hung down to hide my crimson face. Idiot, idiot, _idiot._

I heard Simon snort and I looked up to glare at him, which only made him chuckle at me. I knew exactly what he would say.

"_Silly rabid fangirl, don't get caught!"_

To hell with him. I hoped my cheeks had returned to their normal pale-ish colour as I looked up to voice my thoughts previous to L-lusting.

"So I guess we are going to look for Watari?" I asked.

"Correct," replied L, who didn't seem to have be affected by my staring.

"How exactly are we going to do that?"

"Go back to the place L found himself... If you remember," said Simon turning a questioning gaze on the genius.

"Just what I was thinking. I'm sure if Miss Sephy here will help me find my way we should be able to find the area and hopefully find some leads."

"Okay, it shouldn't be too difficult as long as you know where you got on the train," I told him. He nodded.

"Let's go!" bellowed Simon standing up and practically bouncing in place.

"Yeah, yeah, Simon says and all," I muttered, earning a punch in the arm. I stuffed the last bite of cake into my mouth an stood up, ready to follow Simon who had bounded off like an excited puppy.

"Sephy," called L, just as I was about to move away from the table. I turned and he stood there, the strawberry on the end of his fork.

"Huh?" I asked, very cavemen like, utterly stupefied, once again. He seemed to have that effect on me...

"I saw you looking at it. I know you want it," he said, nervously. I smiled at him.

"Thanks L," I whispered, leaning forward to pluck the strawberry off of the fork. Suddenly he retracted the fork and popped the strawberry into his own mouth. My jaw dropped and he smiled.

"Ooops, sorry," he laughed. Hell, this L was different... but I liked it.

"Don't think that won't stop me from eating it," I smirked, putting on my best rape face. L turned very pale and then very very red in a short space of time before hurriedly swallowing the strawberry and hurrying off after Simon, hands stuffed in his pockets. I smirked and followed after them. Ah, the small powers we fangirls had.

No more than thirty minutes later we were standing in Kew Gardens Station, where L had claimed to have gotten on the train. How he had managed to even get into the station and on the train without a ticket, I had no clue... police badge perhaps.

I didn't dare beak his deep thoughts as he tried to remember where he came from_ exactly_. We left the station and Simon and I followed L in almost silence as he retraced his steps, a deep concentration on his face as if he could barely remember.

"Any idea what this place looked like?" I asked him. He turned for a moment before once again focusing on his steps.

"Not really. It all feels... hazy. It was as if, when I was leaving this place, I was being drawn in by something and all my mind could focus on was the destination rather than remember the journey. Then when I got off at the station where I met you, the feeling disappeared. I didn't know what to do, so I followed a suspicious looking character," he explained in a neutral tone.

"Oh thanks, so I'm a suspicious looking character now," I grunted, rolling my eyes. Simon looked at me curiously and I stuck my tongue out at him, only to have him smile and ruffle my hair affectionately. I just wanted to hit him.

"This is it," announced L, looking up at the entrance to the Kew Gardens.

"In the gardens?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah... Watari must be here to... he _has_ to be," he whispered.

"Great, anyone got £41 for ticket entry?" asked Simon cheerily. L turned and shrugged. I looked at Simon. "Hey! Don't look at me, I spent all of my money the other three expo days... that's why I was trying to get the price knocked down for that Death Note book... damn rip-off..." muttered Simon, kicking the dirt.

"Great," I sighed. "Such gentlemen you are making the lady pay," I growled, pulling out my purse and digging through to get the right cash.

It was just passed midday at this point so it was pretty quick to grab tickets and enter. I couldn't believe I had spent most of the final expo day not actually in the expo... then again I think I had the better deal, considering I was with freaking L from Death Note. Totally worth it.

The first place we decided to check was the East Asia area of the gardens. We figured, considering they had been in Japan when their names were written in the Death Note, this made the most sense. Then again, it hardly made sense how they had managed to change an entire world... and end up in England. Weeeeeird.

"So! Any idea where we are going L?" I chirped.

"None."

"Oh... helpful," I muttered. "So we are just going to wander around this huge garden looking for some old guy... with no idea where we are going?"

"If you don't want to help," snarled L, "then just leave." His harsh tone surprised me. And hurt. He must really want to find Watari. I glanced at Simon and he gave me the, _go apologise, _look. I sighed and jogged a few steps to walk beside L.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know your worried... I'm sure he's here somewhere," I said reassuringly. L sighed. I couldn't blame him really. It was weird enough for me to have an anime character walking next to him. It must be completely overwhelming to have changed worlds entirely and not know if it I just you alone.

"I hope so," he whispered, looking to the sky. Then his eyes widened and lit up, a small smile stretching across his face. "Watari!" he shouted up into the tree tops. I looked up to see a kind of wooden observational walk among the trees, with an old guy looking down at us, smiling. He looked _perfectly_ like Watari. There were no doubts now. Unless someone had decided to form the ultimate look-alike Death Note cosplay group, then L was telling the truth. He was the real deal.

"How do we get up?" questioned Simon.

"The stairs you idiot," I said, receiving a well deserved glare from Simon. L on the other hand didn't seem to be paying attention to either of us, and was already heading for a set of stairs towards Watari. By the time Simon and I had crawled up the stairs after him they had already made their reunion greetings and were discussing their next move.

"-we shall have to find some. I'm sure my detective badge will work here, it did on the train," L observed.

"Perhaps. But people are likely to see something amiss when they find your name is not registered," replied Watari.

"Uh... something the matter guys?" asked Simon. They both turned to look at us.

"I have explained to Watari the situation. It seems he was expecting me to come back here. We are now trying to figure out our next move, but it is difficult considering we appear to have changed worlds entirely," explained L. Watari nodded, deep in thought before clearing his throat to get our attention.

"How rude I have not introduced myself already, I am Watari, it is a pleasure to meet you both," said Watari with a slight bow.

"Oh trust me, we know who you are!" Simon answered. I jabbed him in the side at his rudeness.

"Very nice to meet you too, I am Sephy and this is Simon," I informed him politely.

"Sephy being short for Persophone no doubt?" questioned Watari. I nodded, a little shocked someone had actually guessed. Not many people bothered to learn about the old Greek myths any more. Then again, this was Watari, I didn't think he would neglect his studies.

"So, what are you planning to do?" asked Simon.

"We need to get some money and a place to stay before we can even begin to decide what to do about getting back to our own world," explained L.

"You seem to have accepted this theory very quickly sir," observed Watari.

"What other theories do we have for being alive? And nothing seems too impossible any more with the existence of shinigami having undeniable proof I have seen myself," muttered L.

"Indeed," accepted Watari.

"But before we discuss this we need a HQ. I rather dislike being outside for this extended period of time," said L almost bitterly.

"I was wondering about that sir, why have you not yet set anything up?" L turned to Watari, looking rather pissed off.

"I haven't had much choice," he replied.

"Of course you do!" exclaimed Simon. I looked at him, wondering where this was heading. Did he expect to magic up some money and a house out of thin air?

"What would that be?" I asked.

"They can stay at my place!" offered Simon. I looked at him wide eyed. I was shocked at the selflessness of his offer. Simon was barely able to pay his own bills on his minimum wage, let alone have two more people adding to them.

"That would be much obliged," L accepted without much thought, beginning to move back to the steps leading down. We all automatically began to follow of course. Watari moved ahead to walk beside L, discussing some important matters no doubt, whilst Simon and I trailed behind him.

"I feel somewhat rejected now that we have found Watari," I told him. He glanced at me with a smile.

"Don't get all jealous, be happy you have met the real L."

"I'm not jealous!" I shrieked, realising too late that L probably heard that. I mentally scolded myself and lowered my voice before continuing, thanking the gods Watari and L hadn't reacted to my outburst. "I'm not jealous. I just think it's a little unfair. We are the one's helping him and he just seems to be wandering off on his own with his friend, leading the way when he in fact had no idea where you live!" I complained.

"Oh my dear Sephy, you are still green my dear. This is L we are talking about. The famous detective with millions at his hands and an intelligence matched by no others but perhaps Near. He probably feels well out of his depth and this is his way of feeling like he is gaining control again. Watari is perhaps the closest person to him _ever_ so of course he is gonna stick with him. Just cause you want him all to yourself so you can eat him up!" laughed Simon. I hit him for that last bit, but he was right about the rest. I had to stop thinking like I was the main character in a fanfic. This was real and it wasn't automatically assumed that he was going to instantly fall in love with me and give all of his attention to my every freaking breath. But a girl can dream right?

"So! I guess I should start leading the way now!" called Simon ahead to the other two. They turned breifly and L nodded. I caught Simon before he could run ahead.

"Wait! I'll help with the money. It's the least I can do," I told him.

"Haha, and how are you going to do that Sephy?" he asked, smiling.

"You know I don't need all the pocket money my parents give me. I'm a rich bitch," I smirked.

"And what makes you think they are just going to let you give it to me?" he asked.

"Because I'll be staying in your flat! And of course I must pay rent, buy food, maybe even do some chores..." I grinned.

"You are such a sweetie," laughed Simon, ruffling my hair. "Yet somehow I sense an ulterior motive," He laughed, jogging ahead to the front. He knew me far too well.


	5. Logic

I pulled a bar of chocolate out of Simon's 'secret' cuboard and began to eat it with relish. How long had it been since I had eaten chocolate? Only about four to five hours, but still, even that was too long. Chocolate freak I was indeed.

L eyed me from his spot at the kitchen table. I knew exactly what he wanted and reached up to grab another bar, throwing it to him. He smiled slightly and began to open it. I heard voices coming from the other room as Simon and Watari came back into the flat after going to speak to the landlord about goodness knows what. I quickly stuffed the rest of the chocolate in my mouth and swallowed, before swiping my tongue around my mouth to make sure there was no evidence on my teeth. L watched the whole process intently. I smiled at him, just as Simon and Watari entered the kitchen. Simon eyed the chocolate in L's hand and then turned to glare at me.

"I am going to have to hide that better... I thought some had been vanishing," he complained.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, L must have found it on his own, he's a genius after all," I lied, my demeanour all innocence. L raised an eyebrow at me but continued to eat his chocolate.

"Right, and I suppose you are also the queen of Timbuktu,"grunted Simon.

"Does Timbuktu even have a sovereign?" I asked, smirking.

"I don't think that's the important thing right now," said L.

"Right, you stole my chocolate and you are going to pay for it," agreed Simon.

"Uh, that's not exactly what I meant..." said L.

"L's right. We need to talk about this whole... mess with the Death Note," I stated, getting down to business. Simon nodded and sat down at the kitchen table beside Watari who had also sat down at some point... who knew when...

I hopped up onto the counter, facing them, feeling quite good to be the tallest for once... even if we were all sitting down.

"So, we have come to the conclusion that the Death Note does not in fact kill you, but sends you to this world? Where somehow the whole Death Note ordeal is actually a manga and anime, believed to be completely fictional," I noted.

"Right," agreed Simon. "However, it is not in fact fictional, but a different world, linked by the Death Note. Though somehow someone managed to think up that entire story and write it down."

"We seem to be going in circles. I think its obvious that nothing about this is normal, so we have to forget that this is not supposed to be happening, because Watari and myself are very much living proof that this whole situation is real," L pointed out.

"Okay. So we know what's happened, now what are we going to do?" I asked, looking momentarily at each one of them.

"We cannot tell anyone, they would think us mad. Our police badges also will not work because of the fact we do not exist as real people in this world," explained Watari.

"In other words there is absolutely nothing we can do right now," observed Simon.

"I wouldn't say that's true," I reassured them, an idea forming in my head. "Perhaps there is a way we can get them home."

"How?" asked Watari.

"A Death Note," L and I uttered in unison. L looked at me surprised.

"Please explain." I waited for a moment, to see if L would explain, but he seemed to be waiting for me.

"Uh, well I was just thinking that if a Death Note can put them into our world, then if a Death Note exists in this world, could it not put them back in their own world?" I explained, leaving my theory open to anything else people wanted to add. Everyone stared at me, seemingly amazed, which kind of pissed me off.

"See, she can be a smart cookie sometimes," laughed Simon.

"Har de har, Mr. I Can Never Live Up To Sephy's Grade's In School Because I Am Too Busy Drawing Naked Anime Girls," I sneered, glaring at him.

"Ouch, that hurt deep Seph. It's not my fault you got the brains and I got the artistic skills at our birth," he cried in a falsely dramatic way.

"That only works if we're actually related dumbass," I grunted.

"Details, details," he mumbled.

"We are supposed to be talking about how I can get home," snapped L. Someone was touchy. Who could blame him though, not only had he been dragged away from his world just as he was about to crash justice down upon Kira, he also had to put up with us two.

"Maybe first we need to do our research and find out just how much of the Death Note anime is actually correct," I suggested. "Which means..."

"Death Note marathon!" sang Simon, jumping up and heading to the living room and flicking on the T.V and DVD player. I followed him in gesturing for L and Watari to follow, and dug through Simon's DVD pile until I found his special edition Death Note DVD boxset, and threw it into his waiting hands. L was already sitting down with his knees draw up to his chest, Watari in the kitchen making tea on Simon's request. I observed the size of the sofa and realised it was going to be a squeeze getting three people on it, let alone four.

"I suppose I'll go buy some cake or something," I sighed, even though I _really_ wanted to snuggle up to L and watch Death Note with him... weird as that sounds.

"Huh? Why?" asked Simon.

"Because there is nowhere near enough room for all of us on that sofa and I am not sitting on the floor," I complained. "Besides, I've seen Death Note about a hundred times and I don't think I need to end up in tears again when L dies." I slapped my hand over my mouth as I realised the very guy I had been crying about was in fact sitting just feet away from me and heard that. Great, now he probably thought I was a pathetic stalker.

"Wonderful," I muttered ironically. I grab my bag and headed out of the door calling my farewells over my shoulder before anybody could comment.

It was cold outside and I wished I had remembered to steal a second jacket from Simon, but I was in far too much a hurry. _Idiot, idiot, idiot, _I thought to myself. I pulled my leather 'Bel' jacket closer around me, wishing it was warmer. Thankfully the shops were only just around the corner.

It was dark by now and probably approaching midnight, but there was a 24hr supermarket at the end of the main shopping district. I didn't particularly enjoy walking around this part of the town when it was dark and I was alone, but in this case it seemed the better option than staying behind to roll in my humiliation.

Curse my fangirl type love for L. He was just so amazing in the series. How could I not love the sweet-toothed genius and his adorably quirky habits. Gosh I am so sad. I sighed as I saw the supermarket finally come into view. At least it would be warm in there.

I was correct. I relished in the warmth as it defrosted my fingers... only to have them slightly frozen again whilst trying to pick out cake from the little fridge thing in the bakery section. It was surprisingly well topped up considering it was now... I glanced at my watch. 1am. When did it get so late? Surely it hadn't taken me _that_ long to get here. Gods, I was slow tonight. I grabbed some Haribo and lolly pops before heading to the checkouts and paying.

I had to brace myself before I could step out into the freezing cold. Oh well, soon enough I would be home... with L. I couldn't decide whether to be excited or totally shitting myself. Screw it. What choice did I have?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed someone right beside me. I screeched in terror and tried to run, only to fall straight on my face like an idiot.

"Please don't kill me!" I squeaked, eyed shut, trying to back away from whoever it was.

"What the hell are you talking about? Where the hell am I?" said a male voice. I slowly opened my eyes and froze in place.

Standing before me looking bewildered and scare was a young man with blonde hair, clad in a awful lot of leather.

"Mello?" I asked. He turned.


	6. Lapse

The blonde boy looked down at me on the floor, with wide eyes.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked.

"I-I... have a l-lot to explain," I stuttered, too shocked to even think properly. He eyed me with narrow eyes, seemingly judging whether or not I was a threat. After a moment his expression softened slightly and he offered his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. I dusted myself off to buy time to organise things in my head.

"Where am I?" asked Mello, looking around him.

"You're in the outskirts of London," I replied. "Possibly in a totally different world," I told him softly. He turned to look at me again, disbelief clearly written on his face. I gave him the most earnest look I could muster in my shocked state. How was it possible that he was here?

"You are joking right? I didn't really die and this is some big joke... Any moment now people are going to pop out with banners..." Mello sounded as if he was desperate for an explanation. I sighed, only being able to imagine how it felt to be him right now.

"I will explain everything if you come with me. I know someone who I think will be very eager to speak with you," I told him, thinking of L who was sitting back at Simon's, watching a show about himself and everyone he knew. "Besides it's freezing out here... and there is chocolate there."

I caught the light in Mello's eye when I mentioned chocolate and after a moment of deliberation he nodded and began to follow me. What choice did he have after all? It wasn't as if he couldn't just blow me to pieces too. I checked my bag quickly for any damaged items before continuing down the street back to Simon's flat.

"Simon..." I called nervously into the flat. There was no answer. Mello followed me in and I carefully shut the door behind me. There was no noise other than us entering. I moved ahead into the living room only to find the T.V turned off and nobody there.

Opening Simon's bedroom door I caught sight of him sprawled out across his bed, fast asleep. Typical, he didn't even wait for me to get back. Thank goodness I had a key. I shut his door gently and tiptoed into the kitchen, Mello hot on my heels, and flicked on the light. I screeched, jumping back as I saw L's face pop right up in front of me out of the dark. I fell right back into Mello who caught me automatically. L looked at him, wide-eyed with the same shocked expression I was sure Mello now wore too. I stepped away from both of them so they could continue their stare-down.

"L..." whispered Mello.

"Mello," replied L, a lot calmer than Mello was. L turned to me. "Where did you find him?" he asked.

"Outside... on the street... he just popped up about of nowhere," I replied, a little hysterical. "Perhaps we should wake Simon," I suggested. I needed the moral support. L nodded and I quickly ran past a still stunned Mello to Simon's room. I threw open his door and leapt onto Simon's bead and shook him. He moaned and turned away from me. I sighed in frustration and moved over to shake him harder.

"Simon... Simon, wake up. Big news... Simon!" I whispered harshly. Then I realised how stupid it was to be whispering when you were trying to wake someone up.

"Simon!" I said in a normal voice. It almost felt dirty at that level in the silence of his room. "Simon!" I called, raising my voice a little more. He just groaned. What a stubborn sleeper. I pulled air into my lungs ready to say it even louder and began shaking him even harder. He groaned again and shoved me straight off of the bed onto my ass. _Jerk_, I thought with a huff. I looked up as L entered the room, Mello tagging behind him like a little lost puppy.

"I thought it'd be best if we didn't wake Watari up just yet, he was rather exhausted earlier," said L quietly. He made his way over to Simon's sleeping form and raised a glass of water I hadn't noticed before. In one quick precise action he tilted the glass, pouring the water over Simon's head. Simon spluttered and gasped before miraculously waking up.

"Sephy, what the- uh... oh, it's you... what's wrong?"Simon asked nervously, running a hand through his now damp hair.

"We need to speak to you. Now," said L, turning and exiting the room. Simon glanced at me, still on the floor before leaving.

"Pfft, chivalry is dead," I muttered. Mello walked to me and offered his hand.

"Twice in one night, huh? Klutz much," he laughed softly. I smiled at him and took his hand, pulling myself.

"I guess chivalry isn't _quite_ dead," I giggled, exiting the room. Funny how much a surprise it was meeting these characters for real was. So far none of them had acted in the way I would have expected them to in certain situations.

Simon was hunched over the table, a fresh cup of instant coffee in his hand. I screwed my nose up at the smell. I hated coffee. L was sitting in the seat beside him, putting spoonful after spoonful of sugar in his own cup of coffee.

I sat opposite L and Mello took the remaining chair. Simon's eyes widened as he finally noticed Mello.

"What the hell?" he asked.

"Don't be such a pig," I scolded him flicking his shoulder.

"Mello? As in the mafia boss Death Note character?" asked Simon, ignoring me completely. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yes, it appears so. Though older than when I last saw him," said L calmly. The whole time Mello just sat there, a thoroughly confused expression plastered on his face. I wanted to facepalm at the other two who were just staring at him as if he was some science experiment. And a peculiar one at that.

"First things first, we should explain to Mello what our theory on this whole thing is," I suggested.

"Yes," agreed L, then taking it upon himself to explain everything with words that were larger than necessary. That's when I realised that the whole entire time we had all spoken English, even though the anime itself had been set in Japan. I suppose it was automatic, because they both certainly would have known English, growing up in an orphanage in England.

After L had finished explaining our theory Mello looked as if he had found his feet a little again.

"So your saying I was killed by the Death Note, and transported to this world where L also ended up when he died..." asked Mello.

"That is correct," replied L. Something about that started nagging at my mind but I could not quite place my finger upon it.

"Does that mean... Matt could be here?" he asked hopefully. I felt my stomach drop. The guilt and hope was so clear and he looked so very vulnerable, it made my heart break. L looked at me first, because he obviously did not know the answer, considering he was already dead at the point of Matt's death.

"Sorry Mello..." I whispered softly. The hope in his face crumbled instantly and the guilt took over. "He wasn't killed by the Death Note," I finished, hating to have to be the one to tell him.

"If it helps, it was the best death in the whole anime..." added Simon. I shot him a look that told him that _that_ was _not_ the right thing to say. He just shrugged.

"I'm sorry Matt..." whispered Mello. I wanted nothing more than to hug him then, so I did. He made no move to hug me back, but he didn't shake me off either like I was expecting him to.

"So how are we going to get back?" asked Mello, looking up with a more Mello-like strength in his eyes again. I sat back down in my seat and smiled slightly.

"I'm not sure that's the problem any more," I sighed, rubbing my temples in the place a headache was beginning to form. I needed sleep.

"What do you mean, Sephy?" asked L, the curiosity evident in his voice. He obviously hadn't figured it out yet... how could he?

"Even if we managed to get you both back to your own world, there is a chance that it would be completely different. L, you have been in this world since your 'death' for only a day," I told him, looking straight into his dark eyes. "Mello died six years after you. Six entire years have passed in your world in the space of a day here. Two more years could have passed by now. It is almost certain that Light has already been defeated by Near, considering that happened only two days after Mello's death. Everything would be completely different if you returned," I concluded.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, thinking over what I had just told them. If I was right, this could change everything for them. And yet...

"There is the possibility however that no time has passed in my own world since then," observed L. "Because we do not know the relation of time between this world and the other, we do not know how it changes. Kira could still be alive."

"Either way he's going to die eventually. After that anything could happen. That's where the story ends," said Simon.

"Other than C-Kira..." I corrected.

"It's still worth trying," snarled Mello. "We can't give up so easily. I will capture him before Near does... there is still a chance!" Mello almost bellowed, standing up. I hoped Watari was deaf, otherwise he would have be awoken.

"And how do you propose we _get_ home?" questioned L sharply. Mello sat down again, sulking because he knew he had no answer.

By now I was struggling to keep my eyes open. It was like 3am by now... it was all right for the people who never slept, ran on their own anger or had already had about an hour or so to sleep...Not to mention being a lazy bum most days anyway. I however, was just about ready to collapse.

"Lets think about this in the morning... or late afternoon, whenever I wake up," I mumbled, slowly rising to my feet. I dragged myself into the living room and collapsed face first into the sofa. Feeling this was a comfortable enough position for me, I fell immediately asleep.


	7. Luminosity

The first thing I noticed when I woke was the bright light streaming through the windows, indicating it was not yet even past midday. The second thing I noticed was the ache in my neck... that's what I get for sleeping on the sofa. The final thing I noticed was L sitting just across the room in his usual odd way, eating cake. Suddenly I had the extreme desire to eat cake too.

"Morning... nice to know I didn't just make up the whole of yesterday in my mind..." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. At least the headache was gone for now, though no doubt it would come back with a vengeance soon enough. I sat up and yawned, running a hand through my now very knotty hair. I was too tired to even care that L was watching this whole thing, and I probably looked like hell. I stood up an shuffled over to the kitchen.

"Good morning Sephy-chan!" sang Simon through his cereal. Mello beside him stayed silent, glaring at am empty bowl. I made an incomprehensible grunt at him and proceeded to raid his cupboard. I found some chocolate covered breakfast bars and proceeded to stuff two down my throat. Yum.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Mello ask Simon, as they watched me zombie walk around the kitchen towards the kettle.

"She's not a morning person..." whispered Simon. I still heard him. Jackass.

I turned the kettle on and pulled the hot chocolate out of the cupboard, putting three very large spoonfuls in my cup. Now _this_ would help.

"Your bag is in my room by the way if you want to change... meaning go and change now you skank," Simon told me casually.

"Great, thanks," I grumbled, shuffling off into his room, my now ready hot chocolate in hand. I grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom before taming the hair that some birds must have nested in whilst I was asleep, washing my face and throwing on a comfy pair of clothes. It just so happened to be my long woolly jumper with the bunny ears on the hood. I pulled on a pair of fluffy socks just for extra comfort. By the time I had exited the bathroom and chugged down my hot chocolate I felt much more alive, enough so to smile at each of the boys as I passed them, including Watari who was now sitting at the kitchen table.

I jumped up onto the kitchen counter. "I need to go home," I stated.

"You mean you don't live here?" asked Mello.

"No way. I'd end up killing Simon if I had to _live_ with him... although apparently that's what I'm going to be doing," I grumbled.

"Hey, if it's so bad you can stop eating all of my food," retorted Simon. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Ha! Not if I'm going to be paying for it!" I growled.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, just go home already," he laughed in return.

Fine. I jumped off of the counter and grabbed my bag, heading out of the door.

"Sephy!" called L, just as I was about to reach the door. I paused and turned to him with a smile.

"Yeah? Fancy joining me?" I asked.

"Uh... no. I'd rather stay inside... Do you think you could bring a laptop back?" asked L. Well that felt like a kick in the gut.

"Oh... yeah, sure," I replied, smiling weakly and heading out of the door. It would have been nice to have had some company. I sighed and began my long trek back home. I seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately. I suppose it was because I hadn't yet had enough time to freak out over the fact that L was real and I had met him... not to mention Mello and Watari too. This was beyond anything I had ever imagined happening... I wondered why it was me who had found _both_ of them. It could have been anyone. I was happy though, that I had been given this chance. Even if it meant my job was to send them back home.

As soon as I had grabbed everything I needed (an entire suitcase... who knew how long I was going to be there) and explained to my parents I was going to be staying at Simon's (they were surprisingly good about it), I headed back to the flat.

"Do _not_ blow anything up or I swear I will remove every last piece of chocolate from this house!" screamed Simon as I walked in through the door.

"Then _I_ will go and steal some dumdass," Mello roared back at him.

"And I shall have you brought to justice," L said calmly, sitting on the sofa.

"Hey guys... can't go twenty minutes without me can you," I laughed.

"Welcome back Sephy," L said, and I gave him my best smile.

"Here's the laptop you asked for," I said handing it to him before dragging my suitcase to a clear spot in the corner.

"Thank you," L was just turning the laptop on when realisation dawned on me.

"Craaaaaaaaaap, L give it back a moment!" I cried, leaping across the room and snatching it back from him. Unfortunately I was too late to prevent him seeing my wallpaper of him. Damn it. I grabbed it and slammed it shut... backing away slowly. L watched me, a light pink dusting his cheeks. "I uh... have to go delete some stuff," I squeaked, diving into the bathroom.

I opened my laptop and began removing all of my beloved anime pictures. It was hard to delete the Death Note ones, but then I remembered I had the real freaking things right next door. There was also some mild yaoi I had to make sure was never found by them. How shameful. Even more so that I ended up keeping my favourites and just locking them away in a password protected file. Thank god my wallpaper was only L making the 'loser' sign with his fingers. Anything worse and I might have had to have just jumped out of the window then and there. Finally satisfied that my documents had been wiped and browser history cleared, I trotted back into the living room and handed the laptop back to L, trying to act as if nothing happened. Simon was sitting at the other end of the sofa at this point, but I wasn't sure exactly where Mello and Watari had wandered off to. I sat between him and L, rather squished, but neither of them moved.

"Simon. Where is everybody going to sleep?" I asked. His flat was somewhat bigger than most, but not big enough for five people.

"Well... I think Watari gets the other bed that's normally yours... Mello gets the fold out bed in there too... L gets the sofa, and you have the floor," grinned Simon. Oh, how kind of him. Not.

"It's fine, Sephy can have the sofa, I do not have much need for sleep," L said softly, tapping away at the laptop.

"Oh L.. thank you. I could just hug you," I smiled.

"You may if you wish," he said softly, still tapping keys, but now with a light pink once again dusting his cheeks. I think I became the happiest fangirl who ever lived as I wrapped my arms around him. I actually could have died a very happy girl in that moment, even though he made no move to hug me back.

"I've just had a thought," announced Simon, ruining the moment completely.

"Oh wow, it's a freaking miracle," I muttered, removing myself from L.

"No really... If L, Mello and Watari are all here because they were killed by a Death Note... doesn't that mean that Light will turn up eventually?" Simon croaked.

"You're right!" I gasped. "He was killed by Ryuk's Death Note!" Beside me L had gone extremely tense. "This is not good..." I whispered.

"We don't even know when or where he will show up... anyone could come across him..."


	8. Lost

I bit my thumb nervously as everyone sat in various spots around the kitchen discussing Light. If he ended up here it could be a disaster. I didn't want to admit to the others that I was also quite excited. Despite being completely crazy, Light _was_ cute... and he was so like L in some ways. People didn't understand that if you took the corruption of the Death Note away from him then he could in fact be considered good. Afterall, despite the crazy dreams of becoming god of the new world his main goal was to remove all evil so people could live in peace. He wasn't a complete monster. Or maybe I just had a thing for crazy guys...

"Isn't it likely that we will come across him first though, considering we have found all three of you without even trying very hard?" asked Simon.

"That is a possibility. But do we really want to leave this to chance? By how you described the ending it seems that when Light comes into this world he will not be mentally stable," said L.

"Not to mention there are thousands of others who have been killed with the Death Note and we have come across none of them," I pointed out.

"So we have to be the one's to find him first... how on earth are we going to do that?" Simon cried, flopping down over the kitchen table.

"There is no way we can arrange for that to happen," Watari said simply.

"Yes. In this world it is all just a game of chance," L figured, rising slightly from his chair to grab some more cake from the side.

"So basically there is nothing we can do..." I concluded.

"The only thing we can focus on now is getting back," said Mello as L nodded in agreement.

"I have a theory about that," I said automatically. I wish I hadn't. It was really only just a small idea based from a fanfic I had read...

"Please do voice it Miss Persephone, anything at this point helps," said Watari kindly. I smiled at him in thanks.

"Well if our idea is that the Death Note is somehow a portal between our two worlds then could it not mean that writing your names in another Death Note would send you back? That's if there even is another Death Note in this world..."

"Interesting," murmured L, his thumb rubbing his upper lip as he glared at the table.

"That could be the case. After all, if a shinigami can drop a Death Note in our world then they could easily drop one here," observed Mello, chewing on yet another bar of chocolate.

"It seems we have ended up in the most fortunate of company," Watari said kindly.

"Indeed. Sephy's wisdom has got us far," L mumbled absently. I felt like I was glowing with happiness. What more could I ever want in life?

"So now we are searching for a Death Note. Impossible," Simon protested, crossing his arms.

"Well considering our track record of finding L, Watari and Mello, I think nothing is impossible any more. As L said, this is just a game of chance..." I sighed.

"So you just plan on sitting around and doing nothing? Waiting for _chance_?!" bellowed Mello, rising to his feet. "Are you all idiots! We can't leave everything up to chance! We have to act!"

"And what do you propose we do, Mello?" L asked him quietly as the rest of as sat in silence. Mello sank back down into his seat in defeat.

"I guess this is just a game of waiting," I sighed. Everyone sat in silence for a moment, contemplating. What if we didn't ever find a Death Note? Would they be stuck here forever? I felt guilty for being insanely happy about that possibility.

The phone shrilled suddenly throughout the room, starling everybody and nearly making me fall off of the kitchen counter. Simon groaned and shuffled over to the phone, picking it up with an annoyed grunt for a greeting.

"Ah? Oh, Andrea, its you!" Simon said into the receiver a lot more cheerily. "Sure, come over right now, I'm here." I groaned as I heard what he was saying. "Yeah, Sephy's here," he continued.

"No she's not, consider her leaving,"I grumbled. I was really not in the mood to see Simon's girlfriend. I had nothing against their relationship, they certainly liked each other, but Andrea and I had never got along very well. I secretly thought she was jealous of me. Ha.

"...and she's leaving. Yeah. Sure...see you in half an hour then," Simon sang, putting down the phone.

"You have twenty minutes, you know she'll be here early," Simon said.

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to grab my bags and this lot and I shall be ready," I said motioning to the not-so-fictional characters sitting around Simon's kitchen table.

The guys stood up obediently, confused looks of all of their faces, except L who had probably already figured it out. I stuffed the laptop I had let L borrow into my bag, expecting he may want to use it whilst we were out.

As soon as we were out of the door, Mello was interrogating me.

"So who is Andrea? And why do we have to leave for _her? _Surely we have more rights if we are living there now?" asked Mello.

"You do not have more rights," I told him.

"Why not?" he asked, his temped begginging to flare.

"You may have more rights," L said, "If you were his boyfriend. Alas, Andrea is his girlfriend, so I suppose she gets rights to be in his house over you, an intruder."

"Hmph. Why couldn't we just stay? They won't be doing _that_ kind of thing will they?" he asked, a little childishly. Who'd have thought that from Mello?

"No you idiot. I just don't like her very much," I told him, scowling.

"Ah, your jealous," Mello snickered. I whirled round to face him, glaring harshly.

"I am not jealous you freaking dimwit," I growled, slapping his arm. He wasn't the only one with a temper.

"Why you little..." spat Mello, raising his fist. I tensed, ready to block his attack, but it never came. L bent down low and kicked Mello straight in the face, making him fall straight in his butt.

"Shouldn't mess with our only help here," L said calmly, offering Mello his hand. Mello sat there for a second glaring at L, before taking his hand and heaving to his feet.

"I'm sure we could find some other fangirls to help us... we don't need her..." muttered Mello.

"Good luck finding one's that aren't going to sexually harass you," I shot back. Mello just shot me a dirty look.

We mostly walked down the street in an angry silence after that. Nobody wanted to say anything that might make the mood even more hostile.

We arrived at the gate which blocked my house off from the rest of the world and I punched the code into the keypad by the doors. The opened slowly and I slipped inside, followed by the others, before pressing a button that made them close again.

"Heh, I'm impressed, I thought you would be poor," Mello muttered.

"And I thought you might be a gentleman, I guess we both thought wrong," I spat. Mello glared at me. I really had thought he was going to be nicer than this after he had helped be off of Simon's bedroom floor. I smiled gently at him, "Let's just go inside, okay?" I suggested. He looked at me startled for a second before nodding.

I led them all into my house and straight up to my room, barely giving them time to glance the finely decorated useless rooms throughout the house. They didn't really matter, and I wasn't sure who would be working today or what they would make of me bringing three uninvited men up into my room.

It was only after I had flopped down onto my bed as the others filed in, that I realised I should have taken them somewhere else. My cheeks flamed red as I watched them looking at the various anime pictures and drawings stuck to every inch of my walls.

"Oh my god..." I said under my breath. L was particulararly interested in one of him and Light in shackles together. Watari stood next to him and laughed softly.

"One of your more eccentric ideas," he commented and L looked at him with a small smile.

"I was right about him though." L turned to me, "Do you have any cake... please?" asked L. I smiled at him and stood up, glancing at Mello as he pulled the laptop out of my bag and turned it on.

"You want some Mello, Watari?" I asked, turning to the older man? Watari shook his head kindly and Mello muttered out something that sounded like chocolate. Of course. He was however too absorbed in my laptop to pay much attention.

I moved down to the kitchen, thankful to find it empty. Peering into the fridge I pulled out some Black Forest Gateau and three bars of chocolate, opening one for myself. I slowly made my way up the stairs, appreciating the silence that hadn't been caused by a tense moment for once. It was nice to feel at peace for a few moments. I allowed my mind to run over the facts again. Death Note was real. L was here. Watari was here. Mello was here. Simon and I were housing them all. We had to find a Death Note to get them home. We had to find Light when he arrived. This was absolutely crazy.

Yep. That seemed to be everything concrete at the moment. What a mess. I was surprised I wasn't running around in hysterics by now. It was probably either because I was a lot more mature, calm and prepared for the impossible thanks to anime, or because I had the presence of L. I sensed it was the latter. There was something about L that just made everything so much more possible and understandable. I knew he was changing me. I wasn't the same naïve, obsessive little girl I was just a few days ago. I had already had to change to adjust.

But _hell_ I got to meet the _real L Lawliet_. I was one lucky girl... I guess I wasn't totally over my anime obsessions yet, I just knew it was wise to suppress them so as to not embarrass my self entirely. There was far too much to think about.

I climbed the stairs slowly, wishing I could afford a few more minutes just to think and get things straight, so I could return to being myself a little more. It was pressuring to be this calm. I needed to be wild.

"GAAAH! WHAT THE FUUUUUUUU-" screeched a voice from my room. I paused for a moment, shocked, before shooting off towards my room.

"What's wrong?" I screeched, slamming open my door. Mello was staring wide eyed at the laptop screen.

"Who the... what the... why would... I mean- GAH! WHAT THE HELL?" Mello yelled at the laptop.

"Oh god Mello, please tell me you didn't google yourself..."


	9. Light

"Why would people do that?" Mello asked me, wide eyed. I was sure he would be scarred for life. "I mean... me and Matt? He's my friend, not my gay lover! That's just wrong! Who would think of that?" Mello was completely hysterical and there was nothing any of us could do to calm him down. It was a surprise that he wasn't yet sitting in a corner rocking. It wouldn't have been so bad if the safety settings had been on...

L was looking at the laptop curiously. I knew he wanted to google himself now, but there was no way I would let him. If he saw all of the Light X L yaoi he might just have a mental breakdown and turn into a brand new Beyond Birthday... though that would be very interesting to see, I'm sure it would not be very much fun to live. Or die, rather. But still... various fandoms did eventually turn you to like BB. Plus I completely loved him in Another Note. Maybe that's just because of his similarities to L.

I swear there must be something wrong with me.

I grabbed two bars of chocolate I had dropped on the floor and threw them in Mello's general direction, taking the cake with me. Yawning, I flopped down onto my bed beside L who had moved there sometime during Mello's yelling. He didn't seem to even notice, too caught up in his thoughts and chewing his thumb.

"I even saw me with Near... _Near, _that big-headed..." whimpered Mello going off into yet another long rant. I rolled my eyes and looked over at him.

"Oh come on Mello, it could have been worse. Trust me," I told him, thinking of L and Light. I pushed a slice of cake towards L, who suddenly seemed to wake up from his musings, still holding his serious expression, but taking the cake agreeably.

"Shut up! There is no _way _you can know what this is like. People like _you_ make this stuff!" bellowed Mello, glaring at me. I rose to my feet, far from being on level height with him, but feeling the extra height helped at least slightly.

"People like _me_? At least I am not Willy freaking Wonka!" I screeched, turning on my heel and storming out of my room, slamming the door behind me. I swear it was one of Mello's special talents to make me angry so quickly. Or perhaps I was just running on high tension at the moment, considering I had fictional characters in my house that needed to get home. One of those being someone I had a fangirl crush on. I could hear Mello behind the door, asking the others who Willy Wonka was. Maybe I should just jump L and be over with it.. I wonder what his reaction would be if he was stormed by fangirls. Surely someone who got so little social interaction would totally panic.

It was an amusing image.

I chuckled to myself and proceeded to go downstairs in search of a hot chocolate... or six. I could not live without the stuff... or I could but it would be a dreary, Mu-like existence. As I creaked down the stairs, musing over what L's reactions would be to various, likely-to-be-traumatising things, I noticed someone slip into the dining room. I wondered for a second whether it was an intruder, but then dismissed it as a cleaner or maid. They were often wandering around the house, avoiding me and my weird, loud ways. It wasn't abnormal for people to think I was weird. You would be too if you had practically been raised on anime and manga.

I skipped into the kitchen, feeling in a lighter mood after my random shouts at Mello. He was very good for stress relief, I'd give him that... though he did remind me of a woman pms-ing. Maybe that's what all of the chocolate was about... and the hair... Was I onto something here? I laughed, shaking my head at my own absent ramblings. Maybe that's why I didn't notice anything until two hands snaked around my mouth and throat.

I froze for a moment, no inklings of a suitable reaction entering my brain. Then instinct kicked in and I gathered my breath to let out the loudest scream I could muster. The grip around my throat tightened and the hand holding my mouth shoved two fingers inside, halting any sounds that were to be made and making me gag. I tried to gasp in air, almost suffocating in my captors death grip. What could I do? If only I could alert L somehow, I'm sure he could come down and kick whoever had a hold of me in the face, just like he did to Light. I mentally slapped myself, did I ever stop thinking of anime? Even in life or death situations? I guess not.

"All right, I want you to listen," said a voice I vaguely recognised... He had an accent, but only a slight one.. I wasn't quite able to pinpoint what it was. I looked around wildly, desperately trying to think of some way of making noise.

"You are going to do exactly as I say or else I _will_ kill you," spat the person still holding me. There was a distinctive edge in his voice, that I could only describe as insanity. He almost hissed each word.

"When I say," continued who I was now thinking of as The Maniac Who Is Going To Kill Me Before I Even Get To Finish Watching Naruto, "You will calmly walk upstairs and- NO YOU DON'T!" hissed the maniac, as I tried to kick the kitchen cabinet. He pulled me back and wrapping his arm around my neck, cutting off all hope of breathing. I started to feeling nauseous and dizzy as I flailed myself around in an attempt to make noise to alert someone. Finally I heard a loud bang as my struggling forced the person holding me into the table. It would definitely be loud enough for the others upstairs to hear, but would they figure out something was wrong? Or would they just think I was being a clutz? Maybe they would... maybe they... would... it was getting foggy. The room was too bright and I just wanted to lay down and sleep...

NO! I thought furiously, forcing myself to stay conscious. I felt like I was going to puke. Surely the greatest detective who ever lived could figure out something was wrong... I hoped he would soon, I wasn't sure I could stay conscious without breathing for much longer.

I thought of L... how he had always looked so worried since I had met him. Watari, how he seemed to be the rock in this situation for L. Mello, who always ate his chocolate very dramatically. I had enjoyed doing that on more than one occasion.

Suddenly I could breathe again, and my lungs drew in breath like they hadn't had it in centuries, rather than just seconds. I chocked slightly on a liquid running down my throat. Then I tasted it. Blood. My senses gathered themselves up, instantly moving to defence as I spun away from the person who had been holding me moments before, backing up against the counter.

First I realised he was screaming in pain, next that his hand was bleeding. I must have bitten him. Inhumanly hard judging by the blood. Damn, who would have known thinking of Mello eating chocolate would have saved my life? I was amazed my survival instinct connected to my absent foggy thoughts. At least something was right in my head.

The person cursing and holding his hand in pain was brunette, young and completely out of his mind. Or at least that's what I got at first glance. On my second glance I noticed something far more significant. He was-

"Light Yagami," L half gasped, half growled, stopping at the doorway of the kitchen. He glanced at me momentarily, a worry in his eyes that made my heart squeeze, but then he was moving towards Light, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground, his legs straddling Light's waist.

My cheeks felt hot.

L hunched even further over so that he could be right in Lights face. I thought he was going to say something, but instead he just examined him. L sighed and looked up at me, an icy calm in his gaze.

"You are safe," said L, more as a statement than a question, but I nodded anyway. "Do you think you could get Watari for me?" he asked, a sigh in the tip of his voice. I didn't react other than to make my way upstairs to my room, where I was sure Watari still was.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Mello as I came into the room.

"Oh you know, got attacked, almost suffocated, the usual," I sang, rolling my eyes, a peculiar mood spreading over me.

"Huh. Sounds like a normal day to me," Mello replied, making me snort.

"Watari. L needs you. It seems Light has found his way to my house," I informed him, making my way back downstairs again, almost on a complete autopilot. I was pretty sure I was in shock. Either that or the lack of oxygen had killed off most of my brain. I didn't even bother to hurry as Mello rushed down the stairs past me and Watari followed silently behind. I didn't even care what they were doing. I really had no idea what to do or think any more, so I decided to just not think.

As I entered the kitchen, Light was struggling on the floor below L, who was holding him firmly, obviously very skilled in this. Figures.

"So it really is you this time," growled Light, his face pressed to the floor. "I've already followed two stupid girls who dressed as you. What the hell are you planning... how are you alive?" he asked, but I jumped in before L could reply.

"Well I'm sure those girls are dead somewhere from fangirl overload... unless you decided to kill them yourself," I said drily, not really thinking about my words but knowing distantly there was something disturbing and possibly true about them.

"Respect your god you filthy lowlife!" screeched Light. He was obviously not over the insanity of his death scene.

"Yeah. I'll throw you a party. Let me get the potato chips! Why don't I get the jam and invite Beyond too?" I muttered, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I knew I should be reacting differently. Hysterics would have made more sense, but I didn't see the point any more. I was tired and thoroughly confused, which made my brain react defensively. It just so happened my defence was sarcasm, back chat and an odd calm.

"I will _kill _you," he snarled. L twisted the arm he was holding down and Light cried out in pain. It gave me a sadistic satisfaction.

"Perhaps you should go and sleep, Persephone, you seem to behaving oddly," suggested Watari quietly. I turned briefly to him, raising an eyebrow, before shrugging and making my way upstairs feeling very idiosyncratic.

"What should I do with him, Watari?" I heard L ask as I left the room.

"We'll just have to lock him somewhere until we can think of something," I heard Watari reply helplessly.

"I hate having so little knowledge and control. But it seems justice has pulled through again. We may yet arrest Kira," L chuckled darkly. Then the remaining conversation was drowned out as Light started cursing and writhing again, and I got too far away. I headed straight for my room and fell almost instantly into a dark, riddled sleep.


	10. Lucidity

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks to all of you who have reviewed so far, they really are a big motivation! I'm very surprised this has had such a good reception! From now on I will only be posting a new chapter at the weekends, though sometimes I may be posting two chapters or more in one weekend. Please keep reviewing and really let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!  
**

* * *

My eyes opened, and for a moment I thought I was back home. Or what I considered my _real_ home. The one with my real mum. Not Fathers new wife. But then I knew I was not. There would have been far more old manga novels that my mum had piled around the house, from a childhood she no longer followed, but had passed onto me. The one thing I still lived in memory of her.

But that was a whole other story. This one I realised, was a lot more complicated, confusing and other c words that make one constantly ponder over the situation, as I might a particularly meaningful and thoughtful anime storyline. Like Death Note for example. It questioned a lot about life and its worth after all. Are any one of us capable, or justified to take another persons life, even if this person is evil?

Why was I thinking of this? Oh yeah, the characters... they were here. In my house. L, probably messing with a computer, Mello eating chocolate, Watari possibly baking cakes... that would be nice. Light, locked somewhere in my house. A wardrobe perhaps. Hopefully he had waundered off to Narnia and met the white witch. She'd probably marry him.

I blinked once, before my thoughts processed. I sat up and let out and involuntary shriek. Nobody was in the room to hear it. I glanced at the clock. 6.15 pm and forty eight... forty nine... fifty seconds. I shuddered at the odd coincidence. I rubbed my face with the palms of my hands, feeling sticky and hot after sleeping fully dressed. Before I sorted myself out though, I needed to find out what had happened to Light. Why did I have to go all weird at a crucial moment. I seriously needed to learn to control my reactions to situations. Then again, I could have been killed, it was perfectly reasonable to react strangely.

I stood up, my limbs feeling large and heavy. I felt like I had run a marathon, not just slept. I shook myself before sprinting out of the room and downstairs running straight into a tall brunette who was tittering away on the phone. Andrea turned and glared at me, finishing her phone conversation.

"Watch where you are going," she spat. Gosh how I hated her. I was sure she'd be a perfectly lovely girl if I was best friends with her boyfriend. Unfortunately I only saw the bitchy side of her.

"What are you doing in my house?" I asked, an eyebrow raised high. She opened her mouth to answer, but I cut her off, "You know what, I don't even care, I have more important things to worry about," I told her, moving into the sitting room. The worried faces of L, Mello and Watari looked up at me as I entered. Simon's face on the other hand came flying at me as he pulled me into a hug, me feet lifting off of the floor.

"I'm so glad you are safe! Those guys told me everything that happened," Simon told me in a particularly loud voice, motioning at the other boys. "Including how you totally freaked out. I knew it all along!" he declared.

"Knew what?" I asked feeling overwhelmed.

"That you can handle nothing without me! Who do you go running two when L turns up at a train station? Me! Who is away when you almost have a mental breakdown? ME!" sang Simon happily, almost prancing around the room. God, he was such a woman sometimes.

"Maybe I was just feeling stressed! Baka baka baka baka baka..." I shouted back, smacking him on the head with every "baka."

"Awwwwwh, thats I Sephy I know and love," Simon laughed, hugging me. I had to admit, just having a friend who knew me as well as he did with me again helped a lot. I felt so much more at ease.

"BUT we have more important things to talk about," I said, getting serious again. "What happened with Light?" I asked, looking over at L, before sitting down on the floor with my legs crossed.

"Currently we have locked him in a room upstairs. We are discussing our next move currently," L informed me. I nodded glanced up as Simon plopped down beside me.

"We could try talking reason to him?" he suggested.

"That's never going to work. You didn't see him! He has gone completely insane," Mello shouted, making me flinch. I was too tightly wound up for shouting. I didn't want a full on breakdown this time, because that's what I was sure my funny five minutes from earlier was. That and lack of oxygen to the brain.

"Well Simon has I point..." I said softly.

"Yes. Light is stuck in the same situation as us. It's not as if we can arrest him anyway, he has nothing to fear any longer," L said with more than a little resentment in his voice.

"Right... and how are you going to go about this without being killed?" Mello asked incredulously.

"I guess we'll just have to throw in someone who he is not likely to attack," I shrugged.

"Like me?" asked Simon. "He hasn't met me... as far as I know he doesn't even know I exist at the moment."

"Yes! It's worth a try at least. And I am sure you would be more capable of defending yourself than Sephy," L said matter-of-a-factly. I stuck my tongue out at him which made his eyes go wide like saucers. I could very well be possible that I am the first person who has ever done that to L. _What and honour_, I thought with a chuckle.

"So I hope you are prepared," Mello yelled, grabbing Simon and dragging him up the stairs, presumably to wherever Light was being held. I can safely say Simon struggled and protested all the way, but I knew _I _ for one wasn't going to stop Mello. And why the hell not now? I felt like we had been talking more than doing anyway.

Then the worse possible thing happened and Andrea flounced into the room with a hand on her hip.

"Where is he taking Simon?" she asked with a pout. I didn't know why she was acting like that. She was usually at least half way normal. Showing off perhaps.

"To talk to the manic serial killer from another world, who is locked in a room upstairs," I chirped in a false way. L's eyes grew wide again as he stared at me.

"Sure. Whatever, if you don't want to tell me I will go see for myself," she spat, spinning on her heel and stomping upstairs.

"Should we stop her?" L asked.

"No," I shrugged. I listened to her footsteps reaching the top of the stairs, only to stop before she got to the landing.

"_Where are you going?" _Mello asked rudely.

"_To see my _boyfriend_, thank you very much. Now move," _replied Andrea.

"_To hell you are,"_ Mello snorted. Then came a shriek and some slight banging, followed by another shrill howl.

"Told you," I grinned at L. "Now I hope you don't mind but I am moving out of the way," I informed him, standing up and chucking myself onto the sofa beside him. Just as I settled beside the very tense genius, Adrea stormed into the room, her arms flailing, now screeching down the phone in a way I was sure nobody could understand. She marched straight across the spot I had been sitting in moments before, grabbed her back and marched out of the door. Well, at least she's gone.

"How did you know...?" L asked, watching me.

"When you have known her for this long and know more or less how Mello will react, you can almost predict the future," I told him laughing. He continued to look at me, and suddenly I couldn't keep my eyes away.

"Amazing," L said absently. I shook myself and grinned at him again, then, acting on impulse, I launched myself at him, pulling him into a hug. He didn't react at all, just sat there. I pulled away and jumped up and left the room before he could see my red face. I knew he wouldn't hug me back, but knowing that didn't make me feel any less dissapointed. I made my way upstairs and sat outside the door I assumed Light was in, judging by the screaming that could be heard from outside.

I hoped Simon was okay. Good thing Light wouldn't have a Death Note... Thinking about it I was rather glad this wasn't like Terminator, and that they made it here still in clothes. Otherwise the world might be a little crazy when people notice that those people being arrested for public nudity look a lot like their favourite anime characters, and have no personal background in this world.

The door flew open, and Simon's form fell out, pulling the door closed behind him and turning a key. Loud bangs echoed on the door, shaking it in its hinges, but the shouts were too muffled to understand. Simon sighed in relief and turned to face me, looking very white. I raised a questioning eyebrow, and he moved to sit beside me, staring at the shaking, but apparently very strong door.

"There is no hope. That guy is insane. All he can talk about is winning, saying that as long as he lives, he will not lose. Really wants to kill L now that he knows he is alive. Seems to have a grudge in for you too because you are housing him," Simon explained.

"So there is nothing we can do to make him see sense?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Great, so now I have a maniac in my house as well as various other unstable fictional characters. My parents will be thrilled when they get back," I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

"Where are they anyway?"

"Holiday until next week."

"Ah.

"Yep..." I sighed, both of us going silent as the bangs on the door stopped. Muttering could still be heard from our side. "Its a shame... that Light is like this."

"Even if he was sane, I'm not sure he would co-operate with us, because we are with L. This situation just means we can't release him upon the general public," reasoned Simon.

"That's not what I meant. Light was sexy until he went all crazy," I sighed.

"Same old Sephy," he laughed, pushing my shoulder. I grinned at him and pushed him back. Our laughter died down and my face turned serious.

"What are we going to do, Si?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, Seph. I suppose we just have see how things work out. They always do. Besides, this is your chance to get that kiss with L you have _dreamed_ about," Simon said with a wink.

"Oh my god, do not even talk about things like that," I groaned, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"What did you do Sephy?" asked Simon mock-reprimanding.

"I hugged him, and he didn't even react," I squeaked.

"That's it? Girl, you have a long way to go. You are far to innocent. Let me introduce you to the world of flirting, heated stares and making that damn girl want you bad... or uh, guy in your case,"

"I know how to flirt, Simon. I am nineteen, not nine," I groaned.

"And yet you can barely hug a guy? What's the number of guys you have dated since you turned thirteen? Oh yeah, none," he sniggered.

"Shut up. Maybe I am just waiting for the right guy," I retorted huffily.

"And he is sitting downstairs in his weird little way, eating cake and thinking about murder cases, not you like he should be."

"Oh thanks."

"Now, will you let me help you out?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."


	11. Love

**When I originally wrote this chapter it was in two parts so I am gonna post two chapters tonight so both parts go up! Please review!**

* * *

I stared down at the list Simon had given me. It was completely ridiculous. There was absolutely no way it would ever work. Ever.

"Right... well I'm not doing this," I told Simon, thrusting the list back in his face.

"What? Why?" he moaned.

"Because it is stupid."

"Says the hopelessly single person to lady killer," Simon huffed. I snorted and started to walk away. "Oh come on Sephy! What's the worse that can happen?"

I turned to him and sighed. He knew this was me giving in. Well, he did have his puppy dog eyes on, it was totally unfair!

"Okay fine. But I swear to god if you make a fool out of me I _will_ leave you in the room with Light... speaking of which, he needs to be fed."

"So we are treating him like an animal now?" asked Mello, rounding the corner from the kitchen.

"What else can we do?" I asked frustrated.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong. That damn bastard is an animal," he assured me, going back the way he had come. I turned back to Simon who I could see was plotting in his head.

"Disregard the list, I have thought of a few better ideas!" he sang, skipping away. He was very camp for a straight guy.

"Wait! What is step one!" I cried, running after him.

_Step 1: Impress him_

"Are you ready?" whispered Simon. I shook my head, continuing to watch L from the door. This felt completely stupid. "Good, now go." Simon pushed me into the room and I had no choice but to walk in or make an idiot of myself.

"Oh hey there L!" I giggled nervously. I felt like such a complete idiot. Why couldn't I just be normal?

"Good morning Sephy. Is there something you wanted?" L asked, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Uh... what are you doing?" I asked, sinking down beside him on the sofa.

"Research," he replied.

"Oh... into what?" I pushed, leaning towards him to look at the screen. "_Dimensions, Switching and Meanings,_" I read.

"I am going back no matter what," he replied, his eyes scanning the web page at an incredible speed.

"Oh, I can tell you... things about that!" I told him thinking of Simon's first tip. _Impress him._

"Really? Please do tell," he encouraged, finally looking up from the screen into my eyes. Wow, maybe this could really work?

"Well... There is usually some key or trigger that moves you into a different dimension. Like something magical... Or sometimes they can gain these magical powers within themselves! Or death could bring you there, like it does in Angel Beats..."

"Angel Beats?" L asked.

"Yeah! It's my second favourite anime of all time! You should seriously watch-"

"You mean to tell me you are basing this all from anime?" L asked incredulously, interrupting my babbling.

"Uh... yeah," I replied, scratching the back of my neck.

"So you have no real proof or knowledge other than that bought from fiction?"

"No..."

"Please, Sephy, I do not have time for this," he said almost indifferently, turning back to the computer and tapping away at the keys again.

"Right... sorry," I mumbled, jumping up and leaving the room as quick as I could. I felt like a complete idiot.

"Hey Seph, how did it go?" asked Simon, bouncing on his toes.

"Terrible," I groaned, sinking down into a chair and grabbing a half eaten bar of chocolate that Mello must have left there.

"Why, what happened?" Simon asked, his excitable mood sinking.

"I started babbling about anime... he doesn't care about that! How am I supposed to impress him when the only thing I know anything about is anime?" I groaned.

"Well when I thought about it I assumed he would be more open to things from anime... considering he is an anime character himself..."

"Wow, you actually thought about this?" I asked sarcastically.

"Of course Sephy... I'm only trying to help," Simon replied softly. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"I know... this is just going to get more and more difficult isn't it," I groaned.

"Yeah... but nobody said love was easy."

"Love... right."

"Oh come on, just try the next step. There is no way you can mess this one up."

"Thanks so much," I replied drily. "Come on, lets get this over with, then you can stop bugging me."

_Step 2: Compliment him_

"Hey L," I smiled, sinking down beside him on the sofa again. He continued to tap away at the computer. Well this felt like deja vu.

"Sephy," he nodded. A little colder perhaps.

"Wow you can type fast," I told him, starting off small with the compliments.

"Indeed."

"And of course you are super intelligent," I continued.

"Of course."

"I mean, if Kira hadn't of had a Shinigami, there would be no way he could have beaten you. You are far superior in intelligence to him."

"I shall not say Kira was not a challenge, he was indeed very intelligent, but I know I am far more so," he said bluntly. The thing was when he said it like it was just pure fact that he was intelligent, it didn't seem big-headed. More it felt he was right and it was the natural, truthful thing to say.

"Plus your hair looks cooler," I shrugged.

"Right."

"I mean, everyone freaking loves how you look. Like a cute little panda," I laughed.

"Panda?" he asked, looking at me confused. I slapped a hand over my mouth and my eyes went wide. No way. I had just called him a Panda.

"Ehehehe..." I laughed nervously, fidgeting in my seat. "Yeah... its the dark circles I think... you know from where you don't sleep... from your sense of justice and all of that..." He continued to just stare at me, saying nothing as I tried to fix what I had just said. "So many people prefer you over Light... including me, I mean, your just amazing...so cute and intelligent, and oh my god I have to go and do something," I shrieked, nerves finally dragging me away from this horrible awkward situation.

"Sephy? Where are you running to?" asked Simon as I shot out of the room and down the hall past him. I skidded to a halt and turned to face him.

"I totally just fangirled in front of L... I am such an idiot!" I cried, running further away from the horribly awkward situation. I could hear Simon's laughter echoing behind me.

_Step 3: Eye contact_

"How on earth am I supposed to look at him ever again after embarrassing myself like that? Let alone make 'sultry eye contact' as you call it," I cried.

"Just relax. Eye contact shows confidence. Guys love confidence," Simon informed me wisely.

"But the first two steps have gone disastrously! How can I continue making an idiot of myself?!"

"Well they were not the fault of the steps themselves, just you fangirling all over the place. There is no way you can go wrong with this. All you have to do is put all of your desire into your eyes and keep your mouth shut."

"Easier said than done," I grumbled. L entered the room and pulled a slice of cake out of the fridge, halting my conversation with Simon. Simon gave me a meaningful look and I rolled my eyes in response.

"Hey L, sit here, across from Sephy, I was just leaving," Simon called, leaving the room very quickly. L watched him leave weirdly, before taking the seat he had occupied, opposite me. I watched him as he dug his fork into the chocolate cake and shoved a large bit in his mouth. I flicked my eyes to his. Unfortunately he was too focused on the cake to notice me staring. However I waited, willing him to look up.

He was just polishing off the cake when he looked up and caught my intense, and now frustrated, gaze. He stared at me stonily, an obvious question as to what I wanted clear in his eyes. I tried to narrow my eyes and give him a 'sultry' look.

"Why are you squinting at me?" L asked. I shook my head quickly and looked away. I didn't even know what a sultry look was. How was this plan ever going to work. L stood up and headed back into the sitting room. I let my head fall and hit the table, lifting it up and slamming it back down again a few times in frustration. I was hopeless.


	12. Lame

_**So lots of you have been asking that BB be put into this story, but I have no idea how to put him in. Should he get along with the group? Should there be some fascination with L? Or perhaps a love rival over Sephy? Please let me know in reviews and I shall try my best!  
**_

* * *

_Stage 4: Play hard to get_

"No," I told Simon firmly.

"But why? You know it's a classic!" he moaned. I could see the puppy eyes brewing.

"Because how can you play hard to get when he doesn't even want you? You can't fend off a guy who isn't even attacking," I told him logically.

"But it's not all about rejecting him! If he asks you to do something, tell him you are busy. If he then asks you what you are doing, be vague about it. It stops you from looking clingy, which could really be a problem right now," Simon explained. I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way this was going to happen. Too late, Simon sprang off away and left me standing there wondering what the hell to do.

I decided the best thing to do was nothing. That's what it sounded like Simon was asking me to do anyway. I moved into the living room where L was sitting, tapping away at the laptop again and picked up a random magazine I actually had no interest in. Mello walked in and flung himself down on the only available seat beside me. I feigned interest in the fashion magazine until Mello spoke.

"So Simon says we should move Light soon, back to his apartment at least... though a ward would be more suitable," he grumbled.

"We can do it tomorrow evening if you wish, I shall be about done with my current work by then," replied L casually, still tapping. It frustrated me not being able to look at what he was doing. What on earth required that much writing, a memoir? Or maybe even a diary...

"Right, I'll go see what Simon is planning," Mello mumbled through a bar of chocolate that had seemingly come from nowhere.

"Any ideas Sephy?" asked L looking up from his laptop for the first time. I stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before burying my head in the magazine again. Hard to get... right.

"I can't... I'm going out... with someone... A date!" I squeaked, this sudden idea washing over me but still feeling completely wrong and idiotic.

"A date? With who?" he asked. Was he interested? Was this actually working? "Isn't sorting all of this out far more important?" Or not. He just thought I should be putting my work in. Anger flared up in me at the slight selfishness.

"No actually. I can do what I want," I snarled, flinging the magazine on the floor and glaring at him. "You _fictional_ guys have done nothing but take over my life since you got here. I want some of my own time back!" I had no idea why I was saying this, I meant none of it, but it felt good to let some of the stress out.

"Nobody is forcing you to help us, Sephy. If you would rather back out then you may, we will be out of your way quickly," L replied sternly.

"I don't mind _helping_ I just want a few moments to myself. I've been looking forward to this... date. It's with a really great guy who actually appreciates everything I do, unlike all of you here!" I huffed, standing up and leaving. Who knew I could so openly lie like that? I was shocked at myself.

What was I supposed to do now. There was no date. I'd have to just spend a few hours on the streets alone. All because I was trying to play hard to get. It was ridiculous. L didn't care about me going on a date. Why would he? I felt stupid. Stupid for thinking he could care. Stupid for caring so much myself. I'd barely even known him a week. Stupid dreams making me act crazy.

Knowing this didn't stop me wanting him though.

"Sephy! Wait up!" called Simon running down the street after me. After the dreadful conversation with L I had gone straight to bed and as a precaution not to see him again headed straight out on the mission of topping up the dwindling supply of sweets and cake the following day.

"What's up Si?" I chirped, trying to act my cheerful self despite feeling like I wanted to rip myself to pieces for being such an idiot.

"I was talking to L, boy have you got him this time!" he sang, practically skipping down the street beside me.

"Are you crazy? I made a complete fool of myself. L thinks I am an idiot," I grumbled, dropping the cheery act.

"That's not how it seemed when I spoke to him. He was grilling me for details about the guy you are going on a date with. I made him sound wonderful by the way, you can thank me later!"

"Whaa...?" I stopped, dumb struck, my cheeks turning a rosy shade. "He... he was actually interested?"

"Of course! And now I bet his mulling it over getting himself more and more jealous. Which of course means you have to send him over the edge now."

"And how do I do that oh mighty love guru?" I asked, feeling half serious but rolling my eyes because I didn't want Simon to know that.

"Go on the date of course. And look amazing!" Simon said so confidently as if he did this all the time.

"But I don't actually have a date..." I groaned.

"Yes you do. He's my friend so you better be nice to him. And look good... but that is for L's sake, not your dates."

"You know, you would make the best stereotypical gay best friend," I mused.

"Except I'm a killer with the ladies," he said, completely serious. I burst out laughing, continuing down the street.

"Well come on then Lady Killer, come and help me find something to wear!"

_Stage 5: Look good_

I stared at myself in the mirror, amazed. Andrea was a bitch about it the whole time but I ended up looking amazing. Simon had of course called her in for reinforcements and as much as she moaned she still found an amazing dress and created a make-up masterpiece on my face. All because of Simon's bribing no doubt. That or because she thought a boyfriend might get me away from Simon more.

The long flowing blue dress was modest yet flattering and the make-up complimented my features without making me look fake. The girl was an artist when it came to this stuff! Not that I was half bad myself, I just didn't see the point in making the effort if it wasn't for cosplay. My hair was left in its natural golden ringlet beauty. I loved my hair, simply because it was exactly like my mothers.

The shoes I left til last. They looked terrifying. Goodness knows how many inches high and ribboned up my legs, so they would show through the slit in the slide of the dress. They were beautiful sure, but I bet they would kill my feet.

I stepped into them and felt the tallest I had ever been, which was definitely a nice feeling. Now was the time to make my entrance. Simon was downstairs in whatever room L was so that he could call me in before I left and L could get a good look. But what if he didn't look? What if he did and he thought I looked terrible? Or worse, just didn't care? It was horrible not knowing if this was going to work. Maybe I should just lock myself in my room?

"Sephy!" called Simon downstairs. I sighed and glanced at the mirror just once more to check everything was perfect. No more excuses I guess. I moved slowly out of the room and down the stairs being careful not to twist my ankle in the ridiculously high shoes. I did my best to "glide" into the kitchen where everyone was as Simon had instructed and avoided eye contact with L sitting in the corner eating sweets. I smiled at them all as Mello gave a low appreciative whistle and Watari complimented me politely. Simon watched me smugly as if he was a proud parent. Moron. I dared not look at L as I grabbed my bag and wished everyone goodbye and dashed out of the door. I'm sure Simon would give me a detailed description of the slight twitches of L's face and the blown out of proportion reasons for these twitches tomorrow anyway. I felt bad leaving them to be the one's to deal with Light but after my outburst I really didn't have another choice without making an idiot of myself.

My date was already outside waiting by his car just as Simon had said he would be. He was a handsome if extremely mundane guy of average height and weight. Brown hair, brown eyes, cute smile. Average. Or maybe I was just getting too used to being around interesting anime characters. Still he looked nice enough and opened the car door for me when I approached.

"I'm James," he smiled politely.

"Sephy, nice to meet you," I smiled back.

The night passed just as I expected it would, a normal, calm date. It felt weird to be around normal people again who ate things other than sweets and who were tired by the end of the night, rather than planning to stay up and research into the early hours until he fell asleep in his chair, laptop still open. I was clearly thinking about (and watching) L too much. It was nice to have a calm night, but I did miss the rowdy home with Watari drinking his tea, the lunatic screaming in the bedroom when you tried to bring him food and Mello threatening to blow things up when we ran out of chocolate. How had I experienced so much in such a short time? It felt like months, but I secretly loved every minute. As mad as it was it was brilliant.

I asked James if we could go for a walk after the restaurant, and he happily agreed. Gosh this boy was cheery. We walked down by the river. Not always the prettiest sight in this part of the city, but I enjoyed the cool night air and the quiet. James and I walked in companionable silence. He was a nice enough guy but it was clear nothing was coming from this from his side or mine. As we approached the corner that would loop us around back to the car voices could be heard shouting. They were loud and clearly drunk. I would have turned back had it not been for James continuing on as if nothing was wrong. He was a big strong guy I suppose, he had nothing to worry about. I on the other hand, though fairly strong could still not overpower a group of drunk guys, so I stuck as close to James as I could.

We rounded the corner and saw the guys circled around another person. It took me a moment to register that it was a woman and I grabbed James' arm to alert him so that he may help her. I did not particularly enjoy the idea of sending someone else into danger when I was so useless but it didn't look as if those guys were just going to send flowers and love notes to this woman. She was all alone and against a big group.

"Hey Amelia! What you doing over there?" I called, thinking fast. I had no idea who this girl was but if the guys thought I did they might back down.

"Just walk away sweetcheeks!" called one of the drunks. Maybe that plan failed then. I looked to James and pleaded with him to help out.

"Right guys, just leave her alone, we don't want any trouble!" he called.

"Back off mate or we'll just take your girlfriend with us instead!" they called back, which sent a few cheers around the group. There were about six of them, intoxicated and troublesome looking despite that. I swallowed the fear rising up in me, I knew we couldn't just leave her. I stepped forward and pushed my way through the group towards the woman. They stopped me before I even got half way and flung me back hard towards James, I stumbled until my ankle twisted sideways, causing me to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. James leapt to my side immediately and pulled me back a little from them. The pain seared up my ankle and made me feel faint. Then I was sure what happened. A fight broke out but I had no idea who started it. By the time my head had cleared the woman was beside me examining my ankle and some of the drunks were on the floor or had run away. I looked passed this woman in wonder. Had she done all that? Then I looked at her. She was clearly of Asian birth and had beautiful long dark hair. I knew her.

"Naomi Misora,"


	13. Lips

**Well this is very late! Sorry about that everyone, I was very ill last weekend and very busy this weekend! I'm very tired at the moment so I'm not sure if any of this chapter makes sense, so if you have questions, just ask them and I will reply to your reviews! Thanks to everyone that has been reviewing/following etc, it really means a lot and I do enjoy reading them. Also I drew a picture for this story (even though I kinda suck at drawing) and if you guys wanna see it I will put it on my profile, or if you wanna draw for this story I will be sure to give you a shoutout ;D**

* * *

By the time Naomi and James had dragged me to the car and driven home (after a whispered conversation explaining a few things to Naomi) I was ready to drop. I didn't even have the energy to listen to everyone gush over Naomi so I went straight to bed, in hope that by tomorrow things would have calmed down enough that would could have a proper conversation without everyone screaming over each other, like they were beginning to.

Once wrapped in the sheets I felt instantly at ease. My ankle was fine and I needed to rest before I dealt with the whole new mess of another character.

I faintly heard the sound of the door opening and then shutting softly. I opened my eyes (with great effort) and shifted to look at the intruder of my precious sleep. It was a distinctly L-shaped shaggy head and long body, but it was too dark too see him very clearly, so I had no idea why he was here? Maybe he was sniffing out sweets like some kind of drug search dog? He moved towards the bed and knelt down until his face was right next to mine. Did he think I was still asleep? It wasn't until he started to sniff me that I really suspected something was wrong, but the surprise kept me from moving as he slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I certainly wasn't what I expected. His lips were inquisitive, as if he knew what he was doing but was trying it a different way. He tasted of strawberry jam... _Oh god. _I pushed him off with a screech and scrambled back.

"_Oh my god, BB, what the fuck?" _I screamed. He began to laugh in way that kind of sounded like he was choking which made me think it was best to grab to lamp to use as a weapon if the need arose.

"Hello Girl-Without-A-Lifespan. I've been watching you. How very curious you know my name."

"How long have you been here?"I choked, still not quite over the shock.

"A long time. However, you are the first I have come across who does not have a Lifespan in this world. I thought it was time to speak to you."

"So you kiss me?!" Unfortunately for me that was the moment Simon, Mello, L and Naomi decided to burst through the door. What wonderfully bad timing they had, I would much rather nobody discovered that.

"Oh my gosh, there are two L's," Simon shrieked in a pitch that no man should be able to manage. He was getting so camp these days. Too many good looking men around him for his manly pride I suppose.

"Don't be a moron Simon, it's BB of course."

"YOU seem very calm Miss I-Kissed-A-Serial-Killer."

"Oh so you thought it out enough to tease me about it. And no more stupid new names for me from any of you!" I demanded. Simon could really be an arse sometimes.

"Well then I guess it's best you all tell me your names. Except you L, I know all about you. And nice to see you again Miss Misora."

"Will somebody please put the damn light on I can't see a thing." At my word the light was turned on and blinded my light-adjusted eyes. When I could see again I took a good look at BB. He was very interesting indeed. He had a good resemblance to L but it wasn't quite right. It was more like a very good cosplay if anything. He had the hair, posture, dark circles, crumpled large clothes and bare feet but he still just didn't look like L. Not to mention his bright red shinigami eyes. I could recognise this as BB a mile off in the light. I looked at the others who were still piled in the doorway, now examining BB as he smirked at us. Naomi looked almost sick. I don't think she ever expected to see him again. L didn't look shocked or disgusted as I might have if I was him, but more curious with a hint of anger. But only a hint. It may be wishful thinking but I thought it might be over the kiss I mentioned as they came crashing in. Okay, definitely wishful thinking. I'd be angry too if someone was trying to steal my secret identity like BB was.

"So um... I'm Simon, pleasure to meet you Beyond Birthday!" Simon beamed, he was certainly loving this. He always had liked BB far more than L, though goodness knows why.

"Well Simon, who is your interesting friend here?" BB asked, gesturing at me.

"_I_ am Sephy I told him moving to leave the room. He was definitely trying to intimidate us and I certainly wouldn't let him. "If you want to stay you have to do your part for trying to find a way for everyone to get home. Or else run off to wherever you were before," I told him impatiently. To say I was feeling confused was putting it lightly. His similarities in characteristics to L's made me feel comfortable around him but there was just something about him that rubbed me up the wrong way, perhaps his evil red eyes that burned into your soul... Okay I was being childish and dramatic, but he was still a serial killer. So now there were two serial killers in the house. Great. This was just perfect.

"Do you sometimes wonder if this is all just a dream?" Simon asked me as he followed me into the kitchen.

"Definitely. Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on BB?"

"Why should I do it. Besides Naomi is asking him questions while L stares at him and Mello moodily eats his chocolate. I think he's feeling left out."

"Well then lets make tomorrow Mello day," I said sarcasticly. Mello certainly wasn't the biggest of concerns right now. Unless he decided to go on a murder spree.

"You seem to be having a real problem with BB. I mean, yeah, he's a killer but his motives are nothing to be scared of. He clearly looks up to L, and having L here measn we are as safe as we can be. He wouldn't kill the guy he idolizes. He's not so bad either. He's creepy, but so are the rest of this lot. They are from an anime about murder, they are gonna be weird. You need to chill out."

"Says you, screeching like a girl," I laughed. "Well we'll always have the psycho locked up in your room if things get boring."

"You'll get used to him, he's not _that_ ugly" Simon joked.;

"He'd be handsome if it wasn't for the red eyes," I sighed.

"Red eyes? He doesn't have red eyes?" Simon told me. I frowned at him.

"You can't see his red eyes?" I asked. Simon turned and looked at me like I'd gone insane.

"He doesn't have red eyes. You need glasses Sephy, you're going colour-blind."

"Do they make glasses for colour-blindness?"

"Yes, but thats not the point. His eyes are dark like L's."

"Oh." I stared at the floor. I _know_ he has red eyes... so why can't Simon see it? Did this have something to do with BB saying I didn't have a lifespan?


End file.
